<i>The Blind Assassin</i> by Margaret Atwood

This book was suggested by a friend. Since I have read other Atwood (The Handmaid's Tail about 3 years ago and Cat's Eye in high school) and liked them, I was happy to return to her work, especially with a recommendation.

Atwood adeptly weaves together three stories: a book within the book, the memories of the protagonist and the clippings to support these memories. So, as readers we get an interpreted history through the book within the book, a personal history through the memories and an objective history through the clippings. These three aspects establish a rich story.

An additional layer is the sci-fi stories that were incorporated as part of the book within the book (I was reminded of the sci-fi aspects of Cat's Eye). These stories compounded the interpretation, creating caricatures of the main characters: a girl who couldn't talk and a boy who couldn't see. The caricatures were broad brush strokes, reflecting an inability to stand up for one's self and family and one's ability to navigate deftly through life without seeing anything.

I liked Atwood's writing. I especially enjoyed the voice of Iris as an "older" woman looking back on here life and writing to her estranged grand-daughter. The writing about her family's and her own more elegant past was enjoyable and the feeling of distress as that (and her family) slipped away over the years was palpable.

Overall, a very good read.

8/10

<i>Notes Towards the Definition of Culture</i> by T.S. Eliot

Dave and I spent some time discussing this book---indeed, Dave loaned it to me in the first place so we could do just that. We haven't had a final conversation about it since I finished. I have a few thoughts, though, that have been discussed to some extent about the content of this work.

Eliot contends that culture must have a religious base. I, rather flippantly, disagree with that. But, I cannot give an example of a culture where its people are not involved in a religion (i.e. a faith in the supernatural/divine). Even if, in the case of agnostics or atheists, it is only to speak against the 'common' understanding. For an atheist to say there is no god, there must be some cultural understanding to make that meaningful.

Eliot also claims that those who come to a religion through culture are just as entitled to call themselves of that religion as those who come to a religion through faith. I summarized this to Dave as: becoming Catholic for the art (or, in the Seinfeld tradition, Jewish for the jokes). Eliot's point is that the cultural results of religion will tend to reflect the same values as those held by the religion. As such, if you like the cultural aspects, the faith will fit you as well.

I find this hard to agree with. While I think people can come to faith by a variety of directions, I also think it is fair to be suspicious of the of those who have conversions based on cultural aspects that can be found in many religions or in society at large (see Jason's entry on Take This Bread). While a group of people who are in the local soup kitchen may share your desire to hep the needy, the conversion to a faith should rest on more than a single commonality, as faith, if one is serious about it, is a more encompassing than the single act to serve soup.

I agree with Eliot on his general view of culture: that cultures are intertwined and depend on each other; that you cannot have a middle-class culture without a lower class culture; when people forget the cost ties between cultures, wars breakout; the ideas of a world culture is meaningless without any counterpart to help define it.

Overall, I liked the book, Eliot sets his argument out reasonably. He keeps it short, which enables understanding. I enjoyed thinking about the ideas he presented.

8/10

<i>Stages to Saturn</i> by Roger E. Bilstein

It took me an extremely long time to read this book---over a year, I believe, with month-long periods where I didn't pick it up at all. It is a very good book, though easy to put down because it is dense and incredibly fact based.

I have read a few books on the US space program. This one was very different from the others. The others tended to concentrate on the human aspects---on the experiences of the astronauts. They were very good books (particularly Riding Rockets, which includes a very sober account of the bureaucracy of the Shuttle program), but this book offered a very different view: that of the technical project management required to get those few people to the moon.

Indeed, sections of this book should be used in project management classes. There are excellent examples of how to decrease overall time spans (the "all-up" test of the first Saturn V) projects and how to integrate external contractors into a project while maintaining communication to home base on critical issues (by assigning a local representative).

I enjoyed most, though, the various engineering solutions to problems encountered during design build and test. I learned about explosive forming and the fundamental operation of the engines with the "new" cryogenic fuels. Unfortunately, due to my protracted reading of this book, my memory is best for the last 200 or so pages versus the first part.

It is a book I will have to go back to at some point. Despite the dense fact-based nature of the topic, Bilstein does a reasonable job giving a story arc to each of the elements of the engines and stages. He is particularly good at including elements of the engineering story where things didn't go as planned and an interesting solution resulted.

It was a tough read, but worth it.

7/10

<i>Blue Mars</i> by Kim Stanley Robinson

...we stand on the brink of a---of a kind of golden age---which will only come to pass when our generation has died. We've worked for it all our lives, and then we have to die before it will come...it's---it's frustrating. I would rather see what happens then. Sometimes I get so curious. About the history we'll never know. The future after our death. And all the rest of it. Do you know what I mean?---Sax

Robinson continued the story of Mars in much the same way as he had in Green Mars. In this story, though, he focuses much more on the relationships between individuals, rather than the relationships between planets (the focus of Green Mars). The relationships on display are those between Michel and Maya, Sax and Ann, Art and Nadia and Nigral and Jackie. While there is still great concern among the characters about the place of Mars in the ever growing government of the solar system (there is even a rotating settlement on Mercury), Robinson puts this aside somewhat to display and examine how each character is dealing with the new order.

I was, again, strongly drawn to Sax. He desired to not accept the disorganization of his brain and the quick decline of his friends and instead applied his own ability and influence to solve the problem. I admire that dedication, loyalty and action greatly. I as a bit confused by his desire to get Ann to understand the "green" side, but once his interest---or past interest---in Ann is presented it made more sense. One can have odd relationships with those who once rebuffed one.

Maya annoyed me. Her shifts of moods were too volatile for my liking. It especially bothered me when those swings were taken in contrast to the manipulation she was capable of---shown most clearly in her interactions with Jackie on the canal trip. She was a very complex person---who I, like Sax, really didn't understand.

Nadia, on the other hand, shined more brightly in this book. I was better able to connect with her desire to build, construct and organize in this book than in Green Mars. I remembered why I liked her: she is a systems thinker and wants things to be set in order. Her relationship with Art made sense. As demonstrated in Red Mars, Nadia tended to end up with men who were friends or close collaborators before they were romantic partners.

In Green Mars Robinson only gave each character a single section. Here a few of the characters spoke twice. I found this very helpful, as the stories weren't as intertwined in this book---plus I really enjoyed reading from Sax's point of view twice.

The ending was good. Life continued. All who remained had meaning. One can't ask for much more than that. Overall, a good conclusion to the trilogy.

9/10

<i>The Country of the Pointed Firs</i> by Sarah Orne Jewett

I have read this short book before---some time in high school before I was keeping book notes. I didn't, though recall any of the story, just that it had included wonderful descriptions of the Maine coast, which reminded me distinctly of Winter Harbor. This time through, I took better note of the story (and was reading it while within Downeast, Maine, which helped cement it further to my brain).

The problem I often have with short books (and often short stories for that matter) is that the characters are restricted to a single scene or tale. In this case I would have liked to see Captain Littlepage further developed in other stories, as well as William (Mrs. Todd's Brother). I am left wanting more, which is my no means a bad thing, as it was that feeling that led me back to the book after a number of years.

Jewett, with each of the stories of a summer in Dunnet, ME, sketches a different aspect of coastal New England life in a manner that is not strongly romantic nor sentimental. She instead describes the coast in a manner where the reader gains a subliminal understanding of the isolation and hardship, but also the friendship and trust that a small, poor community has for itself. Being able to successful bring forth those aspects is an achievement in itself.

<i>Green Mars</i> by Kim Stanley Robinson

After reading the rather lousy sci-fi of The Puppet Masters, this book was a welcome change. Looking back on my notes at what I liked about Red Mars (the first book in this sci-fi trilogy that I read about 2 years ago), I liked similar aspects of this book. I had forgotten all of the characters---only faint scenes remained (much like the first 100's memories---I can sympathize in that regard). The characters came back as their stories were told.

I completely fell back in with Sax as one of my favorites---predictable, as he is the "pure science" character. I sympathized with his attempts at slight personality modification, so he could better integrate with society---i.e. hide in plain sight, not drawing attention to the fact that he was indeed *the* Sax Russell. It turns out, though, that he can't hide his scientific introverted self and inclinations for too long.

I had more trouble connecting with Nadia this time around. She was so well communicated in the first book and I had really identified with her (a female engineer who just wanted to be working on useful projects), but I couldn't find that same connection in this book. It may have been because the section of the book in her voice was so near the end of the book.

I liked how Robinson split the story telling task up between the various characters (each character had a collection of sequential chapters where were from their perspective) and didn't bounce around between perspectives in each chapter as some authors do. Though it does mean that the reader only sees one perspective of each scene, it gives a more coherent narrative and a stronger voice to each character. Additionally, it would have been exceedingly difficult to write such a planet encompassing story from only a single perspective---many of the varying view points would have been lost.

The question of what happens to the power structure when we colonize other planets is a compelling question. Robinson answered it with something akin to the American Revolution, where distance trumped force. It like that, as it seems a likely outcome when colonists are there fore more than just extracting riches, and generations have grown without stiff, defined authority from the mother planet/country.

Robinson's writing is clear, descriptive and scientifically reasonable. I had trouble with some of the words he coined, but was able to gather the gist through context. Also, the geography of Mars and the settlements was very difficult to follow at times. In those regards, a map and glossary would have been helpful. Other than that, I enjoyed the book emensely.

9/10

<i>The Puppet Masters</i> by Robert A. Heinlein

I can't remember where I picked up this book, but I had reasonably enjoyed Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land---at least the sci-fi aspects---so I figured this might be a good read. Overall, it was alright, though rather pulpy. I was a bit annoyed with the main character: he was really rooted---values-wise---in the era the book was written (the early 1950s), though they did have a very capable female agent (who, of course, ended up marrying the main character).

The plot was similar to countless invasion stories, where a virus kills the aliens in the end. I did like the "puppet master" aspect where the "slugs" were controlling the bodies and minds of the humans. It was different than some of the other mind control methods I have read and seen. The funny part of that was the "masters" didn't know how to run the humans. It reminded me of how the Sims need to be taken to the bathroom, put to bed and made to eat.

Heinlein's writing was nothing to speak of. It reminded me of detective novels that I have read from the same time period, with a nonchalant though-guy attitude. It was a bit annoying at times, but moved the story along quickly.

6/10